Ambition report 21st.May'18
May 21, 2018 Sydney 4 photos
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Marlin (Striped)
Marlin (Striped)

Trip Summary

Tuna and Marlin: Striped and Blue Marlin along with Yellowfin tuna , Mahi Mahi and some huge Tiger sharks are still haunting Sydney waters. When you consider that it is nearly June the fishing is quite incredible. I suppose what is really remarkable is sea temperatures still around 23 degrees. Even though all the above species are still around you still have to work hard and have a bit of luck on your side to succeed. I went out on Sunday expressly to stay out late and cube into the evening. While travelling out I heard that 'Reef Magic' had tagged two Marlin, a Striped and a Blue and 'Murryfin' had also tagged a Striped Marlin. It was looking good ! We saw loads of Gannets bombarding bait schools as we travelled out but no lookers on the lures. We crossed that 2 degree temperature break that is so well defined on the SST's but continued out, I wanted to see what was at the thousand fathom line. On the way I crossed another break where the temperature dropped significantly and there was a well defined thermocline below which I marked quite a few fish and bait. However I continued out to the thousand fathoms. When we finally arrived at the area I wanted it was a marine desert. Neither birds nor bait were present but the water looked better than anything we'd seen on the way out. Never the less I decided to go back to the cooler break a couple of miles back. We started cubing a little after 3pm., the wind was easing and the ocean glassing out. It was an hour or so before a big Blue Shark turned up circling checking out the baits. Shortly after another much smaller Blue turned up. Inevitably the larger shark took one of the baits and as Blue Sharks do, it did nothing. With maximum pressure applied it finally moved off and as it did bit through the leader. Unfortunately the sharks stayed with us, enjoying our burly, for a while then disappeared as silently as they had turned up. As the sun neared the horizon one of the guys had a bite. Not a regular tuna bite, this fish was coming towards the boat. Shark was the call. The fish or shark started pulling drag, slowly at first but increasing in speed as it went. Suddenly after, it had taken a couple of hundred metres of line, it just took off at a thousand miles an hour, much faster than any shark I'd caught. Needless to say a 40 kg. leader can only take so much and inevitably parted and we were left with a mystery. We had no further action, it was late and time to head for home. On the way I heard that the boys on 'Carnage' had weighed a 450 kg. Tiger shark at the club adding to a larger Tiger caught by a Port Hacking boat on Saturday. Of interest I think is that the guys fishing for Tigers generally start burlying in about 80 fathoms. At present the sea temperature in that area is only 18 degrees and the water green. It poses a conundrum considering that Tigers are a warm water species. I guess though that we'll never know what lies below. Tight lines, Ivan
Ivan Bennett
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ambition Charters thumbnail
Looking to experience the best angling opportunities that Sydney has to offer? Hop aboard Ambition Charters, run by one of the most experienced captains in the area!  Captain Ivan Bennett has been fishing for over 50 years now, is a lover of marine l...

Other reports from this captain

Ambition report 11th.March’24
Ambition report 11th.March’24
March 12, 2024
Autumn has always been the best time of year for Game Fishing out of Sydney. Generally speaking, this is when we encounter the larger fish of the species rather than numbers. Although having said that this Autumn has been exceptional, so far. Over the last couple of weeks both Blue and Striped Marlin as well as Mahi Mahi have shown up in numbers off Sydney. The Mahi Mahi as is usual are found around the various F.A.D’s with live bait producing the bigger fish, being the first boat at the spot helps as they can become spooky when there is too much boat traffic. As for the Marlin, they could be anywhere. Usually however, if you find the bait you’ll find the Marlin, but not always. Sometimes you’ll find the bait before the Marlin, as a friend of mine, Steve Baker (Fly By Night) did. He found heaps of bait well North of the ‘Bait Station’, worked it for several hours for no result. The next day Rob Molnar in his boat ‘On Call’ had a blinder of a day raising fourteen Marlin in that same area. On the day Steve found the bait North of the ‘Bait Station’ I was out with Jamie McKay on ‘Ground Swell’ fishing an area a couple of miles South of them where there was scattered bait. We had a great day too. We’d already bagged out on Mahi Mahi and ended up raising eight Marlin of which we tagged three, all Blues ranging from 130 kg. to 180 kg. We should have had two more but for a broken hook and another mishap which I will not go into, if you want more info just ask Jamie. From what I heard on the radio almost everyone fishing for Marlin over the last week or so have caught or raised Marlin with many being pack attacked by Stripies. Around the shelf area where the bait tends to stack up is where most of the action for them has been. But out around Browns both North and South out to four hundred fathoms there have been Stripies and Blues with the occasional sighting of Yellowfin tuna. Frustratingly Stripies are habitually finicky when it comes to lures and tough to hook so ‘Bait and Switch’, live baiting as well as skipping baits is the most effective method to hook them though teasing them on lures works too. What to me is most interesting is the water temperature. We were reading 28.5 degrees which I confirmed with other boats. In the past we’d consider 27 degrees too hot and look for cooler water. Yet here we are with a great bite and much hotter water. I suppose one answer is that our on-board gauges have a limited range over which they are accurate. Another potential answer is these above high temperatures are only a surface layer of maybe only a metre or two in depth leaving the bait below in a more comfortable zone. Well whatever is happening the fishing is great and if it keeps up the S.G.F.C’s annual Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament on the 13th. and 14th. April will be awesome. It is at this tournament where we have regularly weighed Blue Marlin over two hundred kilo’s with several over three hundred kilo’s also Yellowfin tuna over seventy kilo. For those that chase sharks big Tigers are a regular at the weigh station. So, the Marlin are there and if you don’t go … Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading
Ambition report 15th.December’23
Ambition report 15th.December’23
December 15, 2023
I was keen to get out today after being out last Monday when we raised a Striped marlin but sadly missing the hook up. However I was surprised today to see how conditions had changed. On Monday the inshore water temperature was around the 23 C which is unusual enough for this time of year but offshore at 300 fathoms I read 25.2 C a temperature more normally found in February and March. Even allowing for error in my temperature guage the STC’s were showing 24.7 C, so it couldn’t have been too far out. Today the inshore waters were a more normal 21.7 degrees but dirty green probably from the rainwater runoff. However offshore, past the shelf, it was still over 24 degrees and a beautiful blue. The colour which induces confidence even if it is unseasonably warm. We trolled towards Browns where we raised the Marlin on Monday when in roughly the same area the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ took off at a rate of knots. Surprisingly even though both Ron and I were watching the lures neither of us saw the hookup. The Marlin jumped once and just raced off on one huge run leaving poor Cuyler (I hope I got his name right) an awful lot of line to get back. He did eventually get the Marlin which turned to the boat and released it. Then while Ron was resetting the gear the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ went off again sadly this time it didn’t hook up. We had another strike later in the day on ‘Brad’ by what I thought was either a Wahoo or a Spearfish but again no hookup. It was only because of the water temperature that I even considered a Wahoo a fish not often seen around Sydney these days. What this unseasonal warm ( hot ) water might mean to the Sydney fishery is going to be anyone’s guess. Will it continue to warm up?, seems most likely. Will it bring more tropical species down here? , hopefully but whether this is good thing or bad thing is another question. Will is push our Striped Marlin fishery South?, I hope not. I am sure there are many other questions and likelyhoods but whatever the end result it will be interesting. Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading
Ambition report 26th.November’23
Ambition report 26th.November’23
November 24, 2023
I took Joe and his wife, from Florida, out last Friday on what turned out to be beautiful day at sea. The sea calm and the rain cleared as we headed out. Joe had experience having caught Sailfish and Mahi Mahi in his home waters in the Carribean. However he hadn’t caught a Marlin and that was his ambition, no pun intended. So we headed out and after hearing of Mahi Mahi around the FAD’s did a couple of circuits around the Sydney FAD with no result so headed out over the twelve mile to the shelf. Just past the twelve the current picked up and the temperature started to climb and the water turning that beautiful blue and 22.5 C. I started to mark bait around the shelf and out to around 140 fathoms but it was very patch and obviously not being harassed. On approaching Browns I saw another boat and it looked like they were fighting a fish which was confirmed when I saw a Marlin jumping. Turns out it was a boat called ‘HotRod’. Later on they told me that they had a 2.5 metre Blue Marlin on board which had sadly died during the fight. Spirits were now high and expectation great. Further out as I was watching the Mutton birds migrating South I could see that some patches were circling and indeed working an area. I concentrated on them for a while and though it was obvious they were on something I couldn’t make out what it was and nothing was marking on the sounder. Subsequently as I move further North I saw several more patches of birds working the same way. I have in the past seen similar behaviour when the Mutton birds were chase Flying fish in that hey scare the fish into taking flight then pounce on them. Then Ron screamed out Marlin! and there behind the short corner was a Striped Marlin coming up behind ‘Evil’ mouth open and ready to eat. Ron dropped the lure back but no hook up. The Marlin came back onto the lure, Ron teased it a little then dropped it back and this time hooked up and the fish took off. It was a very stubborn fish and I actually thought it might be a Blue which stayed deep and made Joe really work for it. However, he did eventually get the fish up and we released a good ninety to a hundred kilo Striped Marlin. It was getting late by then so I turned for home anticipating my next trip out into the blue. Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading